ABSTRACT

In photography, a negative is an image that presents a reversed grading of tonalities with respect to the subject. This tone inversion is the direct consequence of the light-sensitive silver halide compound used to capture an image in a camera: it darkens in areas that are exposed to the brightest parts of the subject. These inverted images intrigued early practitioners of photography, who learned to use them as an intermediary in the process of producing multiple photographic prints. Thus, the practice of photography popularized the negative to a wide audience. Today, the history of the negative image is intimately linked to that of photography to such an extent that the negative image is sometimes considered a purely photographic object. However, both black-and-white and color negative images were observed and described long before the era of photography. This paper explores the earliest manifestations of negative images, the relevant terminology introduced by the first photographers, and the relationship of the negative to the production of multiple photographic prints.

摘要

在摄影中，负片是指相对于被摄对象呈现相反色调的图像。这种色调反转是用于在相机中捕获图像的感光卤化银化合物的直接结果：在暴露于主体最亮部分的区域中，其变暗。这些倒置的图像吸引了早期的摄影从业者，他们学会了在生产多张摄影作品的过程中将其用作中介。因此，摄影实践将反面作品广为传播。如今，负像的历史与摄影的历史紧密相关，以至于有时将负像视为纯粹的摄影对象。然而，在照相时代之前很久就观察到了黑白和彩色负片。本文探讨了底片图像的最早表现形式，第一位摄影师引入的相关术语以及底片与多张照片印刷作品之间的关系。